Opinion

German giants Bayern Munich reportedly turned down a record breaking transfer bid, topping the £85 million that Real Madrid paid for Gareth Bale back in 2013, last summer. The offer, from Premier League heavyweights Manchester United, would have seen star forward Thomas Muller prised away from the club that he has spent his entire senior career at.

With less than a month to go until Major League Soccer recommences, Seattle Sounders’ shock victory over Toronto FC in the 2016 MLS Cup takes its place in the history books, while we turn our attention to the upcoming 2017 season.

Augsburg travel to the Opel Arena on Friday to face Mainz 05 and be hoping to continue their winning streak and establish consistency. They have won their last two games, and even though none of the wins was emphatic, it shows they are capable of grinding out good results. Their last two results are the first time they have won back-to-back games this season, and that would provide a confidence boost ahead of the visit to the Opel Arena.

Just over half of the 2016/17 Bundesliga campaign has been played, but it appears almost certain that Darmstadt 98 will be returning to the second flight just two years after achieving promotion to the Bundesliga.

On Saturday afternoon Everton striker Romelu Lukaku scored four times, as the Toffees hammered Bournemouth 6-3 at Goodison Park. The game was a highly entertaining one, but it was Lukaku’s display that stood out.

The transfer window slammed shut on the 31st of January, with the top clubs in the Premier League very quiet.  There was little activity in terms of big money moves and perhaps the fact there were games being played on the night of the window closing, not much attention was being given to the potential comings and goings around the clubs.

Manchester United’s defeat against Hull City at the KCOM Stadium on Thursday ended their unbeaten run of seventeen games, even though they still went on the the EFL cup final based on aggregate. Perhaps a testament to how far the club has come under Jose Mourinho is the fact that most fans were quite disappointed that they didn’t beat Liverpool in their last meeting with the Merseysiders in a match where their midfield talisman and current most expensive footballer in the world, Paul Pogba had a shocker. But how did Manchester United arrive at this point?

Burnley’s main aim this season in the Premier League following promotion last season will have been avoiding relegation. No doubt the Clarets would have expected a relegation dogfight this season.

You must go back to the 2003/04 season to find the last time Arsenal won the Premier League. Since then, the Gunners have won the FC Cup three times and have consistently qualified for the Champions League.  However, when it comes to winning the Premier League, Arsenal have fallen short, despite being in promising positions to win it at different stages of the season over the past 14 years.

We are down to the final four in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.  With some of the big names, such as Ivory Coast and Senegal eliminated from the competition, all four semi-final teams will fancy their chances of progressing to the final and winning the tournament.

While the unexpected emergence of Hoffenheim and the incredible rise of RB Leipzig has grabbed most of the attention, there is another Bundesliga club having an amazing season of their own.

Manchester City travel to play West Ham in the Premier League on Wednesday night, knowing they must win the match, just to maintain their challenge for a place in the top four.  As for West Ham, they are aiming to continue their rise in the league table although the thought of European qualification for next season has long gone.

It was a summer of change at the StubHub Center, as LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena departed after eight years of service. The iconic manager, who guided the club to the top of the Western Conference on four occasions, claimed two MLS Supporters’ Shields and won three MLS Cups, has now taken charge of the United States Men’s National Team.

Liverpool have at times thrilled spectators in the Premier League this season. However, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is now enduring his most difficult spell of his Liverpool career, as his team have now won just once in their last eight games in all competitions.

Swansea City pulled off the shock result of the weekend by winning 3-2 at high-flying Liverpool on Saturday. The win came out of nowhere, as the Swans had been in poor form heading to Anfield. In fact, in their last top-flight game suffered a 4-0 home mauling against Arsenal.

Top of La Liga by a point over second place Sevilla, with a game in hand and in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, looking forward to a winnable tie against Napoli.  Everything seems to be going very well for Zinedine Zidane in his first full season in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, prior to the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final at Celta Vigo, the Real Madrid manager appears to be under a great deal of pressure.

Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti came under a lot of pressure throughout his first six months in charge of the Bundesliga club.

Not much has gone right for Sunderland and their beleaguered boss David Moyes this season. The Black Cats are currently bottom having produced a terrible run of form of late.

With Liverpool losing at home to Swansea and Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur playing out a draw, it was the perfect time for Manchester United to take advantage and make a move on the teams above them.  Stoke City away is rarely an easy game but with the talent at Jose Mourinho’s disposal, it should be a game the Red Devils are winning.

When the draw was made for the Champions League Round of 16 in December, Manchester City were fearing the worst. The draw has often been unkind to them and having finished second in their group, Pep Guardiola’s team were bracing themselves to face Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund or Juventus.  However, when the draw was completed and Monaco were pulled out of the hat, everyone at the Etihad breathed a sigh of relief. Monaco was the best draw they could have hoped for, or so it seemed at the time.